Facility Security & Continuity

Although you have to think of people first in any disaster or disruption, it's also important to protect our work locations -- our building, our offices. This has become more complicated in recent years as new technologies have become part of facility management and as social media has increased its influence in work locations. Read this week's articles to learn more about protecting your facility.

A business continuity program goes through several stages during its development and implementation and all can involve the FM in some way. (Item #1)   Facility Management should play a crucial role in Business Continuity - they manage the 2nd largest and most consequential business "assets" (after IT) on which day-to-day business operation rely. (Item #2)   Here's a facility manager's guide to using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and more to make business better. (Item #3)  

New equipment and systems may present the need to expand the security operations of a given facility as well. (Item #4)   Breaking down a BCP into 10 key steps can help facility professionals develop a plan that will best prepare their organizations to resume normal operations as quickly as possible after disaster strikes. (Item #5)   Emergency Evacuation Planning is something quite specific and should not be mistaken for the more general subject of emergency planning. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. The Role of the Facilities Manager in Business Continuity

Most facilities managers would agree that their lot is a varied one. This can also apply to their involvement with their organization's Business Continuity Plan. This article looks at where FMs fit into the overall plan and how they can contribute to the development, maintenance and execution of the business continuity plan. The availability and operability physical property is absolutely fundamental to business operations for the majority of organizations and there are many issues related to protecting and recovering physical facilities.
http://www.riskcentric.co.uk/id31.html

2. Business Continuity Planning for Facilities Managers

Many Facilities Management (FM) departments are often excluded from the planning process, either because BIA surveys skew a focus toward IT dependencies and financial impacts, or because Recovery strategies lean toward alternate site configurations (under the assumption that a damaged facility will be a total loss). Both of these perspectives ignore the fact that 'total loss' of a facility almost never occurs.
http://ebrp.net/business-continuity-planning-for-facilities-managers/

3. Social Media: How to do it... and why you need to

As social media plays an increasingly important role in the way that customers and employees interact with public spaces, engagement with social media becomes especially critical to FMs' success. Even if you've never used sites like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, you've undoubtedly heard of them. They've revolutionized the way we make friends and stay connected. They've generated billions of dollars in revenue. Lately, they've even prompted foreign regime change. The power of social media can't be understated... and not just as a social force, but as a management tool, too.
http://www.fmlink.com/article.cgi?type=White%20Papers&title=Social%20Media%3A%20How%20to%20do
%20it...%20and%20why%20you%20need%20to&pub=iOffice&id=45221&mode=source

4. Services & Maintenance: Security Merge

Facility managers (fms) and their colleagues are always searching for better ways to protect their occupants, assets, and buildings from any number of internal and external threats. With new buildings, fms often have the luxury of designing security systems without tight space and budget constraints, but integrating security into existing facilities doesn't have to be difficult either. The first step, before even evaluating new technologies and equipment, is to understand the existing vulnerabilities of the facility and the operational changes that will accompany any new security program.
http://todaysfacilitymanager.com/2013/11/services-maintenance-security-merge

5. How to Define a Business Continuity Plan: A 10-Step Guide

Bob Mellinger, president of Attainium Corp., recently outlined a 10-step process in developing a BCP during an educational session at the NFMT (National Facility Management & Technology Conference & Tradeshow) in Baltimore. Mellinger defines business continuity management as an ongoing process that includes: emergency response; disaster recovery and business resumption; crisis management and communication; and maintenance, awareness, testing and exercising. At the forefront of this planning process are maintenance, engineering and facility managers. NFMT 2014 (http://www.nfmt.com/baltimore/) takes place March 4-6, 2014 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
http://www.facilitiesnet.com/emergencypreparedness/article/How-to-Define-a-Business-Continuity-Plan--12327

6. Emergency evacuation planning taken to a new level

For the past 12 years the author has been emotionally attached and intellectually concerned with the events of 9/11 and, as a business continuity specialist, he has struggled with the problems associated with getting people to safety before their workplace becomes a prison or a tomb. The end-result of many years of research, experiment and training is a robust and reliable structured approach to ensuring that people are best prepared to reach safety whenever danger looms. Adherence to a clearly defined six-stage emergency evacuation planning (EEP) protocol raises the subject matter from the realms of an ad-hoc adventure to that of a disciplined practice with predictable and defendable results.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/news06920.html